The Caminando Fronteras human rights association have confirmed the death of at least 51 people yesterday (Saturday) in a shipwreck after spending eight days adrift trying to cross the Atlantic from West Africa to the Canary Islands.
Among the fatalities, there are 37 men, eleven women, and three children, in addition to four survivors who are hospitalized in Fuerteventura.
Caminando Fronteras spokesperson, Helena Maleno, has specified that the inflatable in which 55 migrants were believed to have been on board, left the Moroccan city of Tan Tan, in the south of the country on June 21st.
They spent eight days at the mercy of the tides after an engine malfunction and lack of means of contact. During this time food and water also ran out leading to extreme dehydration, which is what the survivors are being treated for.
The small boat didn’t stand a chance and became shipwrecked before it could be intercepted or the occupants saved, hence only four survivors were rescued by the emergency services after scouring the area and finding the wreckage.
